Campus Ministry for Dummies

Well so I broke my rule/goal last night and made a semi large purchase.  I went with my girlfriend Becca to Wal Mart to get some deodorant and paper towels.  After we picked up what we went to get I went by the new electronics section to the ipod/iphone accessories.  To my amazement I saw that they had the new Belkin TuneBase.  I quickly got a sales associate to unlock it for me and I checked out with a $117.52 bill.  $89.99 of that coming from the Belkin TuneBase.  It is listed at $99.99 on their webpage but Wal Mart sales it for cheaper.  

My first mistake was making such an impulsive buy.  I have been awaiting an in-car player since I bought my iPhone back in January.  I wish I would have done my research.  The TuneBase pumps up their CLEARSCAN feature which finds the clearest radio station that will match perfectly with your iPhone or iPod to play the clearest music.  

So I got into my vehicle and Becca and I quickly opened the box and hooked up the iPhone accessories with the TuneBase and plugged it into my power supply unit(I couldn’t think of what you call the things that you plug stuff like this into so I asked Tracy and Jeff’s input!!) and hooked my iPhone into it.  I pressed the ClearScreen button at the lower middle and it took me to the “Perfect” radio station frequency that I quickly matched on my radio.  I pushed my iPod icon and picked my song and pushed PLAY………….and SHHHHHQHHHHHHSHHHKWESHHHHHH(You get the idea) quickly followed.  ”What the mess!!!”  I quickly said.  I then tried putting it on a station that has no signal that I used with my iPod adapter and I got the same irritating static noise.

I finally found a station that I could hear sorta clearly on after the fifth time I pushed the ClearScreen button!!!  I do not like the fact that you can’t choose whatever station you want to play your music from.  Even on the clearer channels it does not sound as clear as I would like.  For around $100 I believe like I deserve that!!!!

What do I like about the Belkin TuneBase?  Well I like the fact that it does play music from my iPhone over my car stereo.  I gave Becca my 3rd generation Nano because I really don’t have a need for it now.  I do believe that it has much room for improvement.

I did some research(after the fact) last night for other in car players for the iPhone and I found one worth checking out.  The Kensington Car Charger Deluxe for iPhone and iPod.  You can find information on the Kensington charger at the Apple Store. The website gives it great reviews.  It received five out of five stars where the Belkin received only three.  The Kensington also claims that you can use it like a hands-free device for your iPhone.  You cannot do this with the Belkin.

For what it is worth I would recommend you doing your research and make up your own mind about which player to purchase.  I wish I would have done mine!!!